SPAIN ON UNESCO BIOETHICS DECLARATION

UNCLAS MADRID 002350 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT PASS TO UNESCO COLLECTIVE; DEPARTMENT ALSO FOR IO/T (WINNIE ROBERTS) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO SP UNESCO KSCI SUBJECT: SPAIN ON UNESCO BIOETHICS DECLARATION REF: SECSTATE 109242 ¶1. ECONOFF passed reftel points June 14 to MFA UNESCO Unit Chief Monica Ruiz, urging Spain to support the U.S. position vis-a-vis the UNESCO Bioethics Declaration and to consult with the U.S. delegation in Paris. Ruiz informed ECONOFF June 16 that the Spanish Foreign Ministry had not yet finished coordinating the Spanish position with the Health Ministry and requested that we contact her again June 17 to obtain Spanish views. Ruiz did note that Spain would be represented at the Bioethics Declaration negotiations by University Carlos III Molecular Biology Center scientist Carlos Alonso. ¶2. ECONOFF met with Ruiz on June 17 after she was able to speak with contacts in the Health Ministry. Ruiz said that the U.S. points were vague and only suggestions, so Spain had not formulated a response to any specific position. However, she did say that the U.S. outlook appears to be very different from Spain's vision on the bioethics declaration. Ruiz said that the U.S. points seem to indicate that the U.S. wishes to create too many limits and suggest too many modifications to the declaration, whereas Spain favors a broader declaration and does not want to suggest limits on research. MANZANARES